Official Blog of the 2009 TWA Queen

Archive for September, 2009

Three days after the Plains festival promotion it was time for me to go on the trip that I had been preparing for since the summer. On Tuesday I left for the United Fresh Produce Association’s Congressional Visit. Mrs. Wanda and I were in Washington D.C. with all the other watermelon queens and coordinators September 9th through the 11th and had such a great time.

Before serving watermelon on the Hill.

Wednesday night all the queens and Chef Joseph Poon, watermelon carver extraordinaire, served Congressmen and women and their staff lots of juicy watermelon slices along with other produce companies who had delicious foods to sample.

On Thursday we spent the morning at meetings discussing our main goals to inform our Congressmen and women of, then that afternoon we marched to Capitol Hill for lobbying. We were split up into 27 groups with people from our home state to visit our senators and representatives offices. The Texas group visited four different offices, including John Cornyn’s and Joe Barton’s, where we presented our goals for the produce industry. Even

Visiting with Rep. Ciro Rodriguez.

though I wasn’t quite as prepared to speak on all the topics discussed, I had such a great time taking part in the lobbying. It was so interesting to see how it all worked and hopefully as whole we were able to make an impression on Congress.

On Friday there were a few more meetings to attend as well as a Capitol tour. Although this wasn’t my first trip to D.C., I had such a great time getting to visit the city again and this time with lots of good company. I had so much fun seeing all the girls again and meeting new people involved in the produce industry. Another perk was meeting Mr. Paul Begala, CNN analyst and University of Texas alumnus, who told me to come work for CNN one day (fingers crossed).

Taking a bus tour around D.C.

Overall this trip was such a wonderful experience and I learned a lot about how our government works. I would like to give special thanks the National Watermelon Association for allowing me to be a part of it all.

With just enough time to move into my new apartment and start school I was off again on September 4th and 5th to Lubbock and Plains, Texas for the Yoakum County Watermelon Round-Up.

Getting ready for my interview with KCBD.

On Friday I went in to the KCBD Channel 11 studios in Lubbock for an interview during their noon newscast. The interview was over before I knew it, but it was fun to have that experience since broadcast news is what I hope to do for my career one day.

On Saturday we traveled about an hour outside of Lubbock to Plains for their annual watermelon festival. Here we were joined by the familiar faces of Teretha and Guy Jones, Mr. DeRoy and Mrs. Gerry Anderson, and Connie and Mackie McWhirter. They are all such a pleasure to be around and I was so glad to see all of them there.

The "Queen's Choice" car.

The Plains festival was a lot of fun and featured lots of watermelon contests, music, food and delicious red and yellow watermelon slices. I also was able to take part in the classic car contest by helping hand out awards, one being the “Queen’s Choice Car,” which took me a long time to decide on. At the festival I handed out lots of coloring books, recipe cards and some autographed photos. I also met some really nice people, including a 95 year old Plains resident who was recently inducted into the Cowgirl Hall of Fame. Before we headed back to Lubbock, we first loaded up the back of Mrs. Wanda’s escalade with watermelons from Anderson produce, which were donated to the Millsap ISD.

With Mr. DeRoy & Mrs. Gerry Anderson in Plains.

For attending the festival, I received a Yoakum County Centennial Cookbook and a beautiful hand-crafted watermelon necklace, which made wonderful additions to all the memories I received as well. Special thanks to the community of Plains, McWhirter Farms, Anderson Produce, Borders Melons, Texhoma Produce, and Javi Farms for inviting me to such a wonderful watermelon festival.

The first three weekends in August kept me very busy with Kroger grocery store promotions in Houston, Dallas, and Rockwall. July 31st through August 2nd I was at Kroger on Buffalo Speedway in Houston for a “grand re-opening.” Then on August 7th through the 9th I was in Houston again at the Kroger on Buffalo Speedway and one on West Gray. Finally, on August 14th through the 16th I traveled to Dallas for a Kroger promotion on Mockingbird Lane and then in Rockwall.

Bananas & watermelons go together perfectly.

Mrs. Wanda and I put some miles on our cars that month! However, I had a great time in each store and was able to work with some really awesome demo-ladies from the New Concepts in Marketing company. With lots of watermelons in the stores, customers enjoyed samples, recipe cards and of course coloring books for the kids. Special thanks to again to NWPB, to Mrs. Carolyn, Mrs. Ruth, Mrs. Joy, Mrs. Rose and Mrs. Mabel in Houston and Mrs. Geneva in Dallas who created wonderful demos and made my visits to Kroger so much fun!